Drop bottom container



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DROP BOTTOM CONTAINER Filed March 11, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet looooooooooooloooooooooooooo INVENTOR- f7?" BW 1 Patented Mar. 31, 1936UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DROP BOTTOM CONTAINER Frederick K. Fildcs,Altoona, Pa., assignor to The Pennsylvania Railroad Company,Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 11,1932, Serial N0. 598,1 82 10 Claims. (Cl. 294-71) My invention, whilerelating generally to a one-half of the container shown in horizontalmanner of sealing doors at gravity discharge section.

openings to prevent Aleakage of material, is more Fig. IlI represents anend elevation of the same, particularly directed to drop-bottomcontainers with certain portions of the end wall and consuch as used fortransportation purposes on railtainer frame broken away. 5 way vehiclesand motor trucks. The invention Fig. IV represents a cross section ofthe same,

is especially adapted to shipping containers taken at the meeting edgesof the bottom doors, as wherein grain, cement, sand or other granularindicated by the lines IV--IV of Fig. II; and material is transported,Fig, V represents a cross section of the same,

With a drop-bottom container of the character taken at the bottom doorhinges, as indicated by l0 described, where the bottom doors are made tothe lines V-V of Fig. II. t closely within the door frame to preventleak- The container shown in the drawings comprises age of the contents,difouity is experienced in generally a rectangular body Consisting ofend maintaining the accuracy of t throughout the walls I, sidewalls 2, apair of hinged bottom doors life of the container. Inasmuch as thecontain- 3, and a top Sheet 4. The top Sheet 4 is riveted to 15 ers aresubjectl to rough usage and handling, the a rectangular COInbing 5 andiS DrOVided With a doors soon become distorted, or their hinges be-Central filling hatch 6 Comprising channel beams come sprung whichprevents proper closure of the l and a removable hatch Cover 8. Thehatch bottom discharge opening. Thus not long after cover 8 is fastenedto one of the channel beams the containers have been put in service, thedoors 7 by a Short length 0f chain 9. Metal battens 20 fail to closeproperly, and leakage of the contents l0 fastened t0 the tOD 0f thehatch COVer 8 and results. dogs II hinged to the sides of the hatch 6are Accordingly, the principal object of the present empleyed t0= keepthe hatch COVeI 8 tightli7 invention is to provide a drop-bottomcontainer C10Sed- The end and Side Walls l and 2 of the wherein thebottom doors need not t with precontainer are joined together at thecorners by 25 cision within the surrounding door frame, and angle barel2 t0 WhiCh the WallS are riveted.

yet wherein the clearance spaces or crevices be- Securely riveted to thecenter of the upper edge tween the doors and door frame are effectively0f each end Wall l, there iS a roller guide I3 havsealed against theescape 0f granular material. ing @Ornbined therewith a SllSDenS-On eye0r 100D Another object of the invention is to provide a Ul- ThIOugh theI'Oller guide I3, dOOr Operating 30 drop-bottom container whereindistortion of the Chains l5 DaSS, the Chaine eXtending OWnWard bottomdoors or springing of their hinges does not thrOllgh housings 0rChannels i6 in the end WallS destroy the ehiciency of the seal which iseffected Each dOOr Operating Chain l5 terminates in at the dischargeopening when the doors are a Span 0f Chain Il, the tWO` eIldS 0f Whichare closed` secured to the free ends of the hinged bottom 35 A furtherobject of the invention is to provide 1001's 3- in a container of thecharacter described a re- At the base of the contamer the door frame de'fines a discharge chute or passage and includes Sment Sealmg Stm) forbndgmg the cleaJI.aim-e slope sheets I8 which are riveted to the end and40 spaces between the doors and door frame, thls l 2 1. d 40 strip beingso disposed with relation to the bot- .51de Wals and and ae in; lddovnlvardtan tom discharge passage as not to be subjected to mwad Owadthe CBE rfo gcotltn tto a' excessive wear from the discharge of theconpom near t e miler .a aces o e .o qm t t doors 3. From this polnt asclearly shown 1n Flg. tamer con e.n s' V, each slope sheet is sharplycurved, as indicated other Oblects and advantages charactemstw at 20 andthen directed horizontally outward, 45 of my nventin Wm befmne morefully apparent as indicated at 2 I, and then vertically downward rorflthe dallf elcrlptlgn Whlcl; CZIIOWS here' to form legs or sills 22 forthe container to restA ma e1" an W 1C as Te @Tence 0 e accom upon. Eachbottom door 3is provided with hinges panying drawings, in which there isilllustrated 23 of which the hinge pins 24 are Supported by one form orembodiment of the invention. Of brackets 25 which are riveted throughthe legs 50 the draWngSi or sils 22 to the side walls 2. The hinge pins24 Fig. I represents a side elevation of a drop botare Shown secured inplace by Cotter pins 26.

tom Shipping container with one-half of the con- It will be noted thatthe bottom doors 3 at their tainer shown in vertical section. outeredges 21 are spaced at a considerable dis- Fig. II represents a planView of the same, with tance from the side walls 2 and that their iat 55faces I9 clear the sharply curved portions 20 of the slope sheets I8 byan appreciable distance.' This open space is bridged by sealing strips28 which may be made of rubber impregnated canvas or other materialwhich satisfies certain requisites as to flexibility and resiliency ashereinafter explained. The sealing strips 28 are secured to the slopesheets I8 along their curved portions 20 and flat portions 2| bycomplementary binding strips 29 and by bolts 30. The binding strips 29cause the sealing strips 28 to -be normally directed downward at such anangle, as indicated by the broken lines at 3I in Fig. V, that theprojecting ends thereof will substantially clear the path of thedischarge when the doors are open.

The sealing strips 28 are of such width that they present a large areaat their bottom surfaces adapted to overlap the flat faces I9 of thebottom doors. Thus the pressure of the contents of the container on thetop surfaces of the sealing strips 28 presses such strips tightlyagainst the upper faces I9 of the bottom doors, regardless of distortionor other causes affecting alignment of the doors, and serves to maintainan effective seal against leakage all around the door edges. When thebottom doors 3 are allowed to open, the resiliency of the sealing stripscauses them to return to the normal angle with the slope sheets I8 andto be withdrawn from the path of the discharging contents, and hence notsubjected to severe abrasion which would otherwise take place.Furthermore, the normal position of the sealing strips 28 is such thatthere is no danger of the margins thereof curling around the outer edges2'I of the doors. If the sealing strips were permitted thus to be bentoutwardly, it is obvious that their efiicacy would be lost.

At the center of the container near the meeting edges 32 of the bottomdoors 3 there is a transverse partition in the form of an inverted Vcomprising oppositely sloping sheets 33 and a connecting member 34formed as shown in Fig. IV. The slope sheets 33 and connecting member 34may be welded or otherwise joined together, and they form a triangularpartition which divides the door frame into two discharge chutes orpassages. In the example illustrated, considerable clearance is providedbetween the adjacent edges 32 of the bottom doors, and there is alsoappreciable clearance between their fiat faces I 9 and the transversepartition. The latter open spaces are bridged by a sealing strip 35similar to the sealing strips previously described. The sealing strip 35is held in place by a curved binding strip 38 which is complementary inshape to the connecting member 34 and secured thereto by bolts 3l. Thenormal position of the sealing strip 35 when the doors are open isindicated at 38.

Accordingly, the seal effected at the meeting edges 32 of the doors 3 isgenerally similar to that at the hinged ends of the door. At bothregions the sealing strips are adapted to be flexed or bent tooverlapping relation with the fiat faces I9 of the doors by the closureof the same, and the sealing strips are adapted t0 spring substantiallyclear of the discharging contents when the doors open.

The operation of the above described container will be apparent from itsdescription and need therefore be only briefiy referred to. When thecontainer is filled and ready to be shifted from one place to another,such as from platform or car to platform or car, the bottom dooroperating chains I5 are attached to one hook of the hoisting apparatusand the container is lifted by the chains. Additional suspension cablesare used to connect the eyes I4 of the roller guides I3 with a secondhoisting hook of the hoisting apparatus. After the container has beentransferred to the destination at which the contents are to bedischarged, the additional suspension cables attached to the eyes I4 arepulled taut and the bottom door operating chains I5 are slacked off bylowering the first hoisting hook above mentioned. This permits thebottom doors 3 to swing downward, and the contents to fall by gravitythrough the two discharge passages of the door frame, while thesuspension cables attached to eyes I 4 support the container body inposition. The rapidity of discharge may be controlled by the speed andamount of slacking off of the bottom door operating chains i 5. In orderto close the bottom doors 3 after the contents of the container havebeen discharged, the described operation may be reversed. The closing ofthe bottom doors 3 may also be accomplished by holding the bottom dooroperating chains I5 and slacking off on the additional suspension cablesattached to the eyes I4 until the bottom doors 3 are closed and theweight of the container body is again suspended on the bottom dooroperating chains I5. With the opening of the bottom doors 3, the sealingstrips 28 and 35 by reason of their resilient nature spring clear of thepath of the discharging contents. When the doors 3 are again closed, thesealing strips 28 and 35 are flexed upward into overlapping engagementwith the faces I9 of the doors and into overlaping engagement with eachother at the corners of the container. They are thus subjected to thepressure of the container contents when the container is filled,preventing escape of material around the door edges.

While I have described one particular example of a container embodyingmy invention, it will be apparent that various changes may be made inthe form thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention asdefined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a container, a door frame defining a discharge chute, a doorhinged on said frame, and a sealing strip of resilient material securedto the door frame, said strip extending substantially clear of the pathof the discharge when the door is open, but being adapted to be moved byclosure of the door to overlapping relation with a portion of the innerface thereof subjected to the pressure of the container contents,whereby the space between said door and door frame is sealed againstleakage when the door is closed.

2. In a container, ,a door frame defining a discharge passage andincluding a slope sheet at the inside thereof, a door hinged on saidframe, and a sealing strip of rseilient material secured to the doorframe and forming a continuation of said slope sheet, said sealing stripextending substantially clear of the path of the discharge when the dooris open, but being adapted to be moved by closure of the door tooverlapping relation with the inner face thereof, whereby the spacebetween said door and slope sheet is sealed `against leakage when thedoor is closed.

3. In a container, a door frame defining a discharge passage andincluding a slope sheet at the inside thereof, a door hinged on saidframe, a sealing strip of resilient material forming a continuation ofsaid slope sheet, and a binding strip for securing said sealing strip tothe door frame and causing said sealing strip to be directedsubstantially clear of the path of the discharge when the door is open,said sealing strip being `adapted to be exed by closure of the door tooverlapping relation with the inner face thereof, whereby the spacebetween ysaid door and slope sheet is sealed against leakage when thedoor is closed.

4. In a container, a door frame dening a discharge passage and includinga slope sheet at the inside thereof, a door hinged on said frame, and asealing strip of resilientl material secured to the door frame andforming a continuation of said slope sheet, said sealing strip normallyextending downward from such slope sheet at such an angle therewith asto clear substantially the path of the discharge, but being adapted tobe flexed upward by closure of the door to overlapping relation with theinner face thereof, whereby the space between said door and slope sheetis sealed against leakage when the door is closed.

5. In a container, a door frame including side slope sheets, a pair ofdrop doors hinged at the sides of said frame, a partition extendingtransversely of said frame at the meeting edges of said doors, saidpartition comprising oppositely sloping sheets for dividing the doorframe into two discharge chutes, and sealing strips of resilientmaterial forming continuations of said side and partition slope sheets,said sealing strips extending substantially clear of the paths of thedischarge when the doors are open, but being adapted to be moved byclosure of the doors to overlapping relation with the door faces toprevent leakage of the contents when the doors are closed.

6. In a container, a door frame defining a discharge chute, a doorhinged on said frame, and a sealing strip of resilient material securedto the door frame, said strip being adapted to be moved by closure ofthe door to overlapping relation with a portion of the inner facethereof and subjected to the pressure of the container contents, wherebythe space between said door and door frame is sealed against leakagewhen the door is closed.

7. In a drop bottom shipping container, de-

signed to discharge from the bottom, drop doors hinged to the end sillsof the container at a point materially above the bottom edge of the saidwalls and out of Contact with the under side of the end sills of thecontainer, a housing extending from the top of the container downward toa point below the to-p plane of the closed doors, and door locking andoperating means extending through said housing and connected with saiddoors.

8. In a drop bottom shipping container designed to discharge from thebottom, drop doors hinged to the end sills of the container walls at apoint materially above the bottom edge of said walls, ,and sills wherebythe bottom edge portions of the walls and sill of the container dependbelow the hinges of the doors and function as drips and deectors to shedmoisture away from the hinges of the door to prevent entrance ofmoisture into the container, a housing extending from the top of thecontainer downwardly to the bottom of the container below the top planeof the doors in their closed position, and door operating and lockingmeans extending downwardly through said housing and connected to thedoors.

9. In a drop bottom shipping container, side and end sills secured tothe bottom of the walls of the container, drop doors set up inside theend sills above and out of contact with the under side of the end sills,the lower edge portions of the end sills functioning as drips to preventmoisture entering the container around the door joints, a housingextending from the top of the container downwardly through the containerto the bottom thereof below the top plane of the doors, and dooroperating and locking means extending through said housing and connectedto the doors.

l0. In a shipping container designed to discharge through its bottom,drop doors secured to the bottom of the container, locking means forholding the doors in closed position and permiting them to open, ahousing within the container completely housing said means within thecontainer and open .at both ends, the lower open end extending below thetop plane of the said doors, whereby moisture in said housing will bedischarged through ts lower open end outside of the containers.

FREDERICK K. FILDES.

